thinking about | Summer! Oh, wait - I guess spring has to come before I can really get excited about summer, but I will anyways. With me going back to "school" (it's really a fieldwork placement - so more work than school) for May and June and being away from Matt a lot during that time, I'm looking forward to some good quality family time in July and August. I think Greta will be at a great age developmentally at this time and I look forward to playing outside, taking to go ride in the combine with Daddy, and just soaking up our great summer! As much as have complained about our winter, we are lucky that we get GREAT summers here -- that almost make up for the winters, almost! We also have a wedding in Alberta in July so we will be taking a little road trip too! Whether or not we will make it a summer holiday or just a long 15 hour drive back and forth is yet to be determined, but either way I'm looking forward to my cousins wedding and getting close to the mountains.

reading | The Witness by Nora Roberts. My mom said it was great so I thought I'd give it a go - I'll keep you posted as I get further into it!

watching | The Color Purple. It was on tv yesterday, and I'm not sure I had ever watched it before or if I had it was awhile ago. After watching it, I think I may put the book on my reading list, as I like to see how well movies are interpreted. Have your read and/or seen the movie? What do you think?

thankful for | my parents. I'm so thankful that they are going to be letting Greta and I stay with them and that my mom is going to watch Greta for me during the day for 2 months. I really don't know what I would do without them. They are busy with the farm, helping with my sisters two kids, hosting an international trainee, and they still agreed to it! I'm happy I have such great family, and that included my in-laws - as even though they are far away I know if they were here they would help us out too. It is going to take a lot of love, support, and hard work to get through this last year of school with Greta, and I am so grateful for my family who will see me through it. (I think I have said how much I am thankful for them in previous currently. posts but I don't think I can say it enough to express how thankful I really am!). My mom also babysat for us this weekend and Matt and I headed out to a social with my OT peeps - it was great to see everyone from my class but also reminded me how much I'm going to miss them all when I go back and they are graduated.

...in other news, Greta is creeping! Not quite crawling but I think it will come soon enough, this mom is starting baby-proofing!

Lastly, are you guys interested in seeing more recipes on the blog? I post quite a few food pics on Instagram and am asked for the recipes quite often. Sometime I feel like recipe post are too much work because I worry too much about my photo, but let me know if you'd like to see recipes!

Yesterday was a rough mom day over here. It seems like the last week we have been having more rough days than bad days and I start feeling like I'm horrible at this mom thing! The week after our trip went great, Greta was sleeping through the night, napping like a champ, eating well. Then bam!We seemed to have hit a rough patch, where we had rough nights, not naps, and she really is not eating well.

It really got to me, and then finally I just sat and thought about all the good days we had and how great she was on our trip! I'm pretty sure every mom has hit these rough patches and if you put it into perspective, the good days, far out number the bad days. Last night, I went to bed just hoping for a good day and told my self if it was another rough day I would get through it, just like I have and it will get better.

And guess what..

I woke up today, and it has been a good okay day. The last few days I felt like it was the biggest task to just get my self changed and the bed made - but today, lil' miss took a morning nap without much struggle, so I got some laundry done, the kitchen cleaned, the bed made, and I got to enjoy my coffee. We went for a walk, I vacuumed the living room, and I'm finding time to blog! The afternoon nap was a challenge, but 75% of the day went great so I'm counting it as a success.

What I'm trying to say with this post, is when your having a rough day, when your in the "trenches" it seems tough, but take the time to look back and gain some perspective, cause even though in some moments it seems it may not end, the good days will come, they far out number the bad, and really these precious days and nearly a year has seemed to just slip through my fingers, so I have to even cherish the bad days - because she won't be this small forever, and the days and struggles may only get harder.

We decided to take a few days away from being with Matt's family and head to the city of Dresden, in southeastern part of Germany. When planning the trip we had thought that we would take the ICE train as we thought it would be easier with Greta, but after checking out the cost of train tickets and finding out they were more expensive than we had anticipated, we hit the discount site and found a great price on a rental car. So instead of the train we drove. It was a five hour drive from his parents and Greta did ok for the first 3 and a half but the last bit she was quite fussy - so we know for future car rides we need to break every 3 hours.

Dresden was an absolutely beautiful city! It was completely destroyed in WWII, so the city has been completely reconstructed from the rubble, but they did an incredible job. I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves.

We were lucky to get a great deal on an apartment hotel in the centre of the old town, Neumarkt. We were walking distance to all the sites, restaurants, pubs, and markets. We found this really convenient for our needs while travelling with a baby, as we had a place that was close to take her back for a nap, or diaper change, and also the addition of a stove was great for preparing her baby food. We had lots of room, great views, and a deep bathtub!

Another great purchase for our trip was the BobaAir, we had our stroller as well, but we found that we used the carrier a lot, and it was easily tucked into our diaper bag and used once Greta grew tired of the stroller on our long walks through museums and cathedrals.

We extended our original stay by once extra night & day in order to be able to go to the Bastei Sandstone Mountains that were about a half hour south of Dresden, and we are so glad we did! What a remarkable view - it was quite fogging that morning but it was still stunning!

Overall, this city stole my heart and I will have so many memories of our first family adventure that were made in this city, that I think it will hold a special place in my heart for years to come!

Well as you know from previous posts, I was excited about our trip to Germany but I was also really nervous and unsure how Greta was going to travel. Well, we lucked out an she traveled like a champ! Overall our travels went well, not major delays or problems and best of all no extremely fussy baby! It seems that February & March are ideal months to travel overseas, as both of our international flights were not full - in fact they were half empty. We have usually traveled over the holidays and summer previously so we are used to full flights, therefore it was a welcomed change especially for Greta's first journey! We had 3 sets of flights on each leg of our journey, and the last one was always the worst - which is not a surprise since we were all tired.

Matt's parents were so happy to see us, well I think mainly Greta (I felt like chopped liver, lol) and lucky Greta was great with them! She has been playing strange quite a bit with my family, so I was worried it would be even worse when we got over there since she has only seen them outside of a computer screen at 3 1/2 months old. But to our surprise she was nothing but smiles! Even with Matt's brother and his grandfathers whom she had never met. It made me happy because I think that if she would have been fussy with them they would be even more bothered by the distance and time they don't get to spend with her.

We had great weather the whole time we were there. Matt's hometown is in the northern part of Germany near the Ostsee (Baltic Sea), so it is a more coastal climate which is a nice change compare to the cold Canadian Prairies. It's a short drive to beaches, piers, and ports so we went for some walks along the water on some days and then other days we would walk through the forest and along the lake that is in town. We got out a lot, which was great after it seemed we had been cooped up indoors for a good 4 months so the sun, fresh air, and exercise was welcomed! Besides our side trip to Dresden (which will be another post on it's own) we mainly just spent a lot of time relaxing and visiting family, not being too busy or having too many plans made for a great actual holiday. We got to spend time with our niece, visit with Matt's brother and his girlfriend, and visited with neighbors who finally go to meet the little one that Oma is constantly talking about. Matt's mom also owns her own little shop in town so we spent a few hours there. I think Greta will enjoy her shop when she's a little older as among the many things she has in her craft/decor shop she has Maileg dolls/toys which are so cute! Matt's dad had time off work so he got lots of time during the day with her and came on outings, his mom couldn't close her shop so she was busy most mornings but got her cuddles in during the afternoons & evenings!

I also indulged in far too much bread, beer, and sweets (man I wish I had taken a picture of our daily broetchen breakfasts!) during our trip. So much good food, never had as good of bread as I do when we are in Germany! Also the farmers markets are great with fresh produce, cheeses, and meats (again I wish I had photos - I'm a bad blogger eh?!)

thinking about | Lots! I'm thinking about the huge to-do list I have (and should probably be tackling instead of blogging..) such as laundry, cleaning, and planning. I have lots of planning to do, you remember when I wrote in this post about my making a decision to return to school? Well, I made my decision and I will be headed back to redo my placement on May 5th. With that decision comes some big changes, as I will be completely my fieldwork placement in a place near my parents, and therefore Greta and I will be living there during the week for May & June. We will be coming home on weekends but we will be living there so that my mother will be able to look after Greta so we can save on childcare costs for those 2 months, and also save my sanity as I think placing her in daycare before she's a year, and getting back to school-mode all at the same time just might make me go a little insane. It was a big decision, and a tough one, but we decided it is our best choice right now. The fact that I will have July and August off to be with Greta and Matt before returning to classes help in making this decision as well. Not really sure how I feel about living with my parents, and away from my husband makes me feel quite yet....

reading | Well I finished two of the best books I've read in a while on our trip. I talked about reading The Light Between Oceans in a previous post and I have to say this book is amazing, seriously! I haven't read a book that brought me to tears in a long time but let me tell you, I sat finishing this book in my in-laws living room with tears streaming down my face. They must have wondered what the heck my problem was. If you haven't READ IT, so well written, you feel for each character and you are so torn in then end of who you want to side with. I also read The Book Thief, also another great book, couldn't put it down and the fact that is was about the WW2 & the holocaust and I read it while in Germany it really made it interesting and had me thinking a lot, Matt and I had some lengthy talks about Nazi Germany and I looked at the world around me wondering what it must have been like during this time.

listening to | Happyby Pharrell, gets me in a good mood - might just get my cleaning done quickly today!

watching | catching up on Nashville & Grey's Anatomy episodes I missed while we were away.

working on | blog post from our trip - can't wait to show you guys some of the picture, I hope I have some posts up this week but first I need to get that to-do list tackled!

Wow! Your 9 months, and what an exciting month it has been! You went on your first international adventure to see Oma & Opa - and you were a superstar on the flight. You made travelling with you so easy and let's hope that continues on any upcoming flights!!

Your Stats:

Weight: 14lbs 5oz

Length: 25.5 inches

The doctor is a little concerned about your weight - she thinks you should be gaining a little faster, but Dad and I think that you are pretty healthy looking. We are going to see if we can get you to eat a litter more and increase your calories with some healthy fats to see if that helps, but overall we are happy with you just as you are! You are happy, sleeping through the night, and have plump cheeks, some babies are just smaller than others and that's okay! Plus, you have come along way from your bitty 2 lbs 9oz start. Your in 6 months clothes now so your not to far off your corrected age, of 7 months!

About You:

Your so busy lately! Not quite crawling yet, but close as your pushing your bum back. You make do with scooting around in a circle to play with your toys and you would actually prefer to stand up holding the couch more than trying to crawl. You were fantastic with Oma & Opa, you didn't play strange, you enjoyed their company, and loved playing with Opa. In Germany, we got outside so much more and you got used to your stroller and seemed to enjoy our daily walks. You got to see one of the prettiest cities in Germany too - Dresden was so good and it was exciting to travel and show you the world (or a little bit of it anyways!). Also you are starting to wave and clap your hands which is super cute, your such a clever little girl!

You Love:

baked apples or pears with cinnamon and nutmeg with oatmeal for breakfast

your interactive german book we got on the trip

laughing when people sneeze

going for walks

Just love watching you grow, learn, and amaze us each and everyday my little girly! So proud to be your mom and love you soooo much!